Ice-making machine.



No. 7l4,494.

Patented Nov. 25, I902. R. F. LEARNED.

ICE MAKING MACHINE.- (Application. filed Jan. 3, 1902.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

RUFUS FREDERICK LEARNED, OF NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI.

ICE-MAKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 714,494, dated November 25, 1902.

Application filed January 3,1902. Serial No. 88.296. (No model.)

To all 'whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUFUs FREDERICK LEARNED, a citizen of the United States, and

ceive from below a supply of compressed air or gas, a portion or all of which is allowed to pass through the body of water and result in a clear transparent block of ice.

Among other things my invention has for its object the provision of an improved can with a subchamber adapted to receive a charge of air or gas; to provide an improved valve mechanism adapted to close from liquidpressure from above and below in order to exclude brine from entering the can and to retain the fresh water in the can, saidvalve mechanism also toopen freely to air or gas pressure from below; to provide means which efiectually excludes any ammonia-gas or other vapor or odor present in the brine from entering the can and contaminating the fresh water therein, and to prevent the brine from outering the air or' gas supply pipe when the" can is removed. With these ends in view the invention consists in the novel combination of devices and the construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed. i

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

ice-making apparatus of the can system. As herein shown, said can A is adapted to be suspended in the usual manner by the rim a, attached to the upper part of the can, resting on the bars b of the framework over the freezing-tank. The method of suspension is not material.

The bottom-5 of the can is not secured at the extreme lower end of the can-body, but is recessed upward some distance from the extreme lower end, as shown in Fig. 1. This bottom is fastened to the can in any suitable way to form a water-tight joint, and the described arrangement-of the bottom forms a lower chamber 6 in the bottom end of the can. Said chamber is open from below and may fill with brine as the can is lowered in the freezing-tank until the brine is displaced by the air or gas, which is admitted from below. To counteract the buoyant effect of the chamber filled with air or gas at the bottom end of the can, I attach an iron band as a rim to the lower part of the body of the can, as shown by 7 in Fig. 1. This weighting may be accomplished in any suitable way.

I will first proceed to describe the construction embodying my invention as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, to which reference is now more particularly made.

A flanged coupling-plate 8 is attached to the under side of the bottom of the can, preferably at the center and within the chamber 6 and is attached by rivets or in any suitable manner. A nipple 9 forms an integral part of this coupling-plate, and said nipple is provided with an interior bore or passage, the latter having a female screw-thread. The bottom 5 of the can has an aperture, which is .made concentric with the bore of the nipple valve-cage is provided at a point intermediate of its length with a transverse partition 11, which is located, preferably, at a point above the horizontal center of the cage, and in this partition .is a small central passage 12. The

partition divides the cage into upper and lower chambers, which are connected only by the small passage 12. In the upper part of the upper chamber of the valve-cage is fastened a perforated plate or ring 13, the opening in which establishes communication between the upper chamber of the valve-cage and the fresh-water chamber of the can. A similar perforated plate or ring 14 is fastened in the lower end of the lower chamber of the valve-cage. In the sides of the lower chamber of the valve-cage is provided also a series of slots 15 for the passage of air into the chamber.

16 and 17 designate automatic valves, the former being located in the upper chamber and the latter in the lower chamber. The valve 16 is adapted to seat itself upon the partition 11 and to close the passage 12, whereby the water to be frozen contained in the can A is prevented from escaping through the valvecage. This valve will lift, however, by air or gas pressure from below and allow the air or gas to escape into the water in the can. Should the pressure of the gas or air become less than the pressure of the water from above, the valve will automatically seat itself, closing the passage 12. The upward movement of the valve is limited by the perforated plate 13. The valve 17 is made of any material lighter than salt water or brine, and its buoyancy will thus cause it to. float on the surface of the brine should the brine rise in the lower chamber 6 of the can and be carried up and seat itself against the under side of the partition 11 of the cage, thereby closing the passage 12 and preventing the brine from getting into the can or, rather, freshwater chamber of the can. The SlOIS 15 in the valve-cage allow the air or gas to pass into the lower chamber of the cage and to have access to the upper surface of thevalve 17, thus preventing the valve from becoming lodged or stuck or held in a raised position by the gas or air pressure from below. The air or gas thus having access to all parts of the surface of the valve except that part covering the small aperture 12, the air or gas pressure on any side is balanced by the air or gas pressure from the opposite side, except as to this small part covering the aperture 12. From this description of the valve mechanism it will be seen that the two valves are adapted to be seated automatically by liquid-pressure from above or below, while both valves are adapted to be opened or unseated by gas or air pressure from below that is to say, the valve 16 will be forced to its seat against the partition 11, and thus close the passage 12 by pressure of the clear or fresh water in the can A when this pressure exceeds the pressure of the air from belowand the valve 17 will rise with the brine should thesupply of air or gas cease, and thus close the passage 12, and thus prevent the brine from getting into the fresh water above, and both the valves will be displaced from their seats when the air or gas pressure is renewed, thus allowing the air or gas to pass into the can.

B designates an ordinary air-supply pipe having a series of branches Z), one of said branches being preferably provided for each can. To the delivery end of each branch Z) is attached a valve-cap 18, which is provided with a port 19, and within this cap is an automatic check-valve 20. The employment of the check-valve 2O prevents the admission of brine into theairor gaspipe; butitis adapted to be unseated by air or gas pressure from below when pressure is on.

As embodied in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 there is no close connection between the can A or attached valve mechanism and the air or gas pipe I). The air or gas from Z), rising by its own buoyancy, is caught in the lower chamber 6 of the can Aand displaces the brine, which finds ready outlet from the open bottom of this chamber. As the brine recedes to a point below the valve 17 this valve opens, and valve 16 opens by the pressure of the air which now finds access to it and allows air or gas to pass into the can. The weight of the column of brine which presses on the air or gas from below in the chamber 6 of the can A is greater than the weight of the column of equal or smaller height of fresh water within the can, thus insuring that when the can is in place and there is enough air or gas in the chamber 6 to open the valve 17 the pressure on that part of valve 16 which covers the passage 12 will be greater than the fresh-water pressure on the corresponding area opposite, which has until now served to keep the valve seated.

In actual practice leaks sometimes occur in the ammonia-pipes, which are immersed in the brine to cool it, thus contaminating the brine, which when it becomes stronglyimpregnated will give off-an odor of ammonia, or the brine may become contaminated in other Ways. In order to reduce the contact between the brine and the air that is to pass through the fresh water to a minimum, I use a rubber or other flexible funnel-shaped attachment C. By its elastic neck a it is attached to the air-pipe b, or it may be attached in any other suitable manner. It has stiffness enough to sustain its own weight and is high enough that when the can A is in place its upper rim 0 presses lightly against the bottom 5 of the can A and surrounds the valve mechanism. As this funnel 0 remains attached to the air-pipe b when the can A is removed it will fill with brine. That this brine may be displaced by air or gas when the can A is again in place I provide a small aperture c in the lower part of the funnel near the neck, out of which the brine may flow as the air or gas displaces it. It is intended that a small surplus of air or gas shall be admitted through the air-pipe h in excess of what can find outlet through the small passage 12, thus keeping the chamber 6 of can A filled with the rim 7.

The funnel G will thus be kept free from brine after it has been displaced after the can is in place, and the air or gas supply is maintained and the chance of the air that goes through th e fresh water in the can becoming contaminated by contact with brine that may have become contaminated is reduced to a minimum.

In the embodiment of the invention as shown in Fig. 3 the arrangement is the same as in the foregoing with the following excepbrine in the brine-tank.

tions: A nipple 23 is provided for the cap 18 of the air-pipe b, and to this nipple is attached a rubber or other flexible tube D. In the upper end of this tube D is inserted a union 22. The tube D is long enough so that whennot in use the end to which the union is attached may be held above the top of the As the can A is about to be placed in the brine the tube D is fastened to the lower valve-chamber of the valve-cage by means of a female thread in the aperture in the ring 14. and male thread on the union 22 or by other suitable means. When the can is removed from the tank to take out the ice or for other cause, the hose is uncoupled by means of the union 22, and the end so uncoupled is kept above the brine. The lower end is kept permanently attached to the air-pipe b. l

No claim is herein made to the specific form of the flexible connector which is embodied in the tube or hose D, (shown by Fig. 3 of this application,) because said subject-mat ter of invention is disclosed and claimed in a separate application filed by me on April 12, 1902, Serial No. 102,560.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patenti 1. A freezing-can provided at its bottom with a subchamber and with an air-inlet, an

air or gas pipe, and brine-excluding means surrounding the space between the pipe and said air-inlet, said means forming an intermediate chamber having an air or gas outlet in communication with said subchamber of the can, whereby escaping air or gas may ex ert pressure in said subchamber to displace brine therefrom.

. 2. A freezing-can provided at its bottom with a double valve having chambers sepa rated by an intermediate partition, and two members which are closed by liquid from above and below respectively, both valve members being opened by air or gas pressure from below.

cage and with two valves, one of which is adapted to be closed by liquid-pressure from Within the can, and the other of which is buoyant and closed by liquid located externally to the can.

5. A freezing-can provided with a valvecage having two chambers divided by an intermediate partition in whichis formed a passage, a gravity-valve in the upper valve-chamber and a buoyant valve in the lower valvechamber. 6. A freezing-can provided with a valvecage divided into two chambers by an intermediate partition, and having slots in the lower portion thereof, and valves confined in said valve-chambers of the valve-cage.

7. The combination with an air or gas pipe, and a removable freezing-can, of a flexible chambered connector attached to the pipe and havingits upper open end engaging frictionally with the bottom of said can, said connector being compressible or yieldable under the weight of the can and forming asubstantially tight joint with the can solely by said frictional engagement therewith, and a valved air-inlet in the bottom of the can; said air-inlet being surrounded by and in communication with the chamber of the connector,whereby air or gas under pressure from the pipe fills the chamber of the connector and passes through said chamber and the inlet to the can.

8. In combination with an air or gas pipe, and a can having an air-inlet in its bottom, a loose flexible connector attached to said pipe and arranged to fit against the bottom of the can, said connector having a port adapted for the exit of brine.

9. In combination with an air or gas pipe, and a recessed bottom can having an air-inlet and a subchamber, a connection attached to said pipe and operatively fitted to the can,

said connector having a port for the exit ofsubchamber, a valve-casing attached to said recessed bottom and lying in the subchamber of the can, said valve-casing provided with normally open slots for the circulation of fluid through the same, a movable valve member arranged to play past the slots and having an unrestrained play in the valve-casing within certain limits, and a connector for conveying air or gas from said pipe to the valve-casing.

11. The combination of a freezing-can, an air or gas supply means, and aflexible chambered connector normally attached to said supply means and arranged to discharge air or gas into the freezing-can, said connector being provided with a lateral port or passage at a point between its engagement with the freezing-can and the supply means, whereby brine and air or gas may be dischargedfrom the connector without passing into the can or the supply means.

12. The combination with a freezing-can and an air-supply pipe, of a chambered connector attached to said pipe and frictionally engaging with the bottom of said can andsurrounding the air-inlet thereto, said connector having a brine-vent.

13. The combination with an air or gas pipe and a freezing-can provided with a valve, of a flexible chambered con nector having a flexible neck attached to said air-pipe, said connector being of inverted conical form and having its broad upper edge portion engaging loosely with the bottom of said can and surrounding said valve, said connector having a brine-vent.

14. The combination of a freezing-can provided with an air or gas valve, of an air-supply pipe, an inverted conical flexible connector attached to said air-supply pipe and engaging with the bottom of said can, and a port for the exhaust of gas or liquid from said connector.

15. The combination of a freezing-can having a recessed bottom or chamber, a valve attached to said can and having two members adapted to close by liquid-pressure from above and below but to open by gaseous pressurefrom below, and a loose flexible connector attached to an air-supply pipe below, and adapted to loosely surround said valve.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RUFUS FREDERICK LEARNED.

Witnesses:

G. P. BALFOUR, R. L. BLYTHE. 

